Do you want to know a secret?

It’s been a very exciting week. Some things I can tell you about – like the fact that I have just begun a 6 month break from the day job (hurrah for working at home in pyjamas!) and some things I can’t reveal yet because they are still in progress. But the biggest thing was this announcement… a dream of a deal from Bookouture, the hottest digital publisher of the moment. The first book of my new Honeybourne series, The Little Village Bakery, is due for release on June 15th. My lovely agent took me to lunch to celebrate. ‘You can start a blog – post recipes for lots of different cakes you’ve baked,’ she said, ‘It will be a brilliant companion to the book’. She sounded quite excited and also rather convinced that this was something within my capabilities. Which it’s not.

At this point I need to let you into a little secret…. I can’t bake – not one bit. Not to worry, I thought as she smiled expectantly at me, because nobody is going to want me to make cakes. I’ll just post the recipes and everyone will be happy. But then, the more I thought about it, the more I felt like a bit of a fraud.

I looked at my new book cover, and as I wiped a little tear of joy from my eye, I realised something that shook the smugness right off my face. The tagline: A feel-good romantic comedy with plenty of cake? I can write about cake, I can certainly eat it, but making it…. Maybe I am a fraud? The last time I tried to make a birthday cake for my youngest daughter, it was so bad I had to pretend to the family that my (then) eight year old had made it for her younger sibling. If they made a rival to The Great British Bake Off called The Great British Baking-in-the Bin Off I’m sure I’d beat all comers.

I must make amends. I can’t have my lovely readers thinking I know all about baking. So I’m going to learn how to bake. And I’m going to share the results with you all to pass judgement, and laugh, and possibly beg me to stop. Tips and advice will be most welcome! By the time The Little Village Bakery hits the digital shelves, I will be able to bake something edible. I’ll succeed, or get food poisoning trying!